So nobody has ever said that we follow a straight line or even
if we know where we are going from day to day.
Like this year's trek down south:
We left two weeks earlier than last year as we hadn't made it to
son Jeff's before the snow.....still didn't make it.
Our first day 135 miles to Cle Elum - the town of tin roofs.
We
met with friends at Cle Elum Dru Bru Brewery where for just the price of a
"brew" we had a free camping night in their parking lot. And
there was even a pizza food truck at the entrance. Nice visit - nice
food.
Next day we made it 90 miles to Moses Lake. Where Dean had
to, of course, visit the airport (that's in a previous blog) Another
dinner out, too. Mexican - great! El Rodeo. So far so good, I
haven't had to cook.
Third day. Harrumph: we woke up to freezing temps and snow
forecasts. And in Idaho, where we were headed it was 18 degrees and also
snow forecasted. Ah, heck with it. Changed travel plans and headed
south.
By the time we were traveling through Pasco, Washington, you
would never have known of the below freezing temps in Moses Lake.
We even made it into Oregon after checking the weather for the
next week. No snow and clear weather. Wonderful. 103 miles to
Umatilla Marina and RV park. Nice.
That night we developed a
"plan" to drive down through Oregon on US395 which we'd never
traveled before. Also US395 is quoted as being the "most
likely Oregon's loneliest federal highway". The morning forecast
through Oregon was still clear. Hooray!
Off we went. Hmm - that looks like snow. Surely we
aren't heading that direction.
Ah, we won't be going
there. But it looks like it's at the same level as us....
No towns for a long time - no parks to tuck in
for the night - 151 miles and over 4 or 5 snowy but clear passes above
4100'. Never saw any wildlife and we were looking!
We alit at a beautiful Oregon State Park "Clyde Holliday" just out of the small town of John Day, Since bypassing Idaho, we really are ahead of schedule. Two nights there with temps in the 20's both nights. Sunny days. No snow.
US395 was looking even more remote. So upon consulting the atlas, we turned west and traveled on US26 toward Redmond. We passed the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument. I had always wanted to visit but we'd never been here before....but at 25 degrees we decided to bypass. Very pretty scenery along the John Day River.
What's our saying: "we like traveling 50 miles a day"
- so far we haven't. So onward to Bend on US97. Where we stayed at
the Elks campground AND had dinner out again. Phew! Too many road
miles to cook, she says. 1
18 degrees when we woke up that morning so didn't leave until
noon. High 49 degrees. Not bad. Spent much time driving above
4000', Great highway. Many more semis than north of Bend.
Miles upon miles of 8-10' deer fence and we finally saw a deer. This was
day 7 we landed just north of Klamath Falls.
Played again with the atlas and found a road that kept us off of
US395 passes in Nevada and California, bypassed the I5 Siskiyou Pass, and less
remote. AND it was another road we hadn't ever traveled. Off we
went SW on US97.
US97 was a neat drive. We entered California. Went
up a few hills, past many areas of burnt forest. In Dorris, we saw the
tallest flag pole in California
 Let's give them
credit!! |
We saw Mt Shasta and old
lumber mills.
 |
| Sawdust Burner, Mt Shasta, Black Butte |
For this year, we are done avoiding I5.
